Al Jazeera Director General Khanfar Resigns

Wadah Khanfar, formerly of Al Jazeera, has said he will soon announce his next project. | Franco Pagetti/Vii

After claiming the No. 1 spot on our June list of the "100 Most Creative People in Business," Al Jazeera's director general Wadah Khanfar announced his resignation in September, eight years after he joined the network. This spawned rumors of a forced resignation as the news coincided with the leak of a 2010 WikiLeaks cable stating that Khanfar's ties to the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency prompted censorship of Al Jazeera's coverage of the Iraq War. In an interview with the network, Khanfar said he achieved his goal "to transcend Al Jazeera into an international news network." A member of the Qatari ruling family will serve as his successor as Al Jazeera expands to Turkey, Nairobi, and the Balkans.